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It has been impossible for me to get a reasonable answer from Adobe, so now I am asking you guys, dolls and magicians: How to remove Adobe Flash Player and ActiveX Plugin ?

They are of course not listed in XP's Add / Remove Programs.

The problem began with the flash player not working, so I updated from Major Geeks to the new beta version. But this didn't help - on the contrary: When I tried to uninstall, XP would say that these programs seemed not to be installed, so would I like them to be removed from the list? I answered YES. Maybe I shouldn't have, because now I cannot install, and I cannot uninstall, or repair.

So I have no flash, and yet I have it - if you know what I mean.

So how can I remove Flash Player and ActiveX Plugin from my XP, so I can make a fresh install, please ??

Interesting. I've always used the downloadable uninstaller that PhilB66 linked to, but note that Flash is uinstallable via not only YourUinstaller! 2006:

but Windows Add/Remove as well:

I no longer remember WHY I have used the downloadable uninstaller from Adobe in the past... perhaps the uninstallation routine is something that Adobe has added in more recent versions of Flash Player?

« Last Edit: November 04, 2007, 07:52:14 AM by Darwin »

Logged

"Some people have a way with words, other people,... oh... have not way" - Steve Martin

Sorry: I should of course have taken my time to explain in some more details.

Flash Player AND ActiveX Plugin used to be listed in Add/Remove Programs, but when they failed, XP asked if I wanted to remove their presence from the list. So they do come with an uninstaller.

I did ran the uninstaller which PhilB66 linked to, (Thank You, Phil!), but somehow Flash Player is still here, because when I then tried to install a fresh .60. BETA version from Major Geeks, the installer popped up and claimed that this was not the newest version and I should go to Adobe to get the "new" (older) .47. version! This tells me that some Flash Player leftovers still remains somewhere at my PC, doesn't it.

So how do I remove leftovers from Flash Player and ActiveX Plugin, I guess I should ask.

Hmmm... this is getting really bizarre, I think. I unistalled Adobe Reader, meaning there should not be any more Adobe or Macromedia programs on my machine. I then used RegSeeker to erase more than 500 Adobe- and 30 Macromed- entries from the Registry! I even removed the new Access Bridge from Sun, because it somehow is connected to Adobe Reader. Then I rebooted, and tried for the tenth time to install Adobe Flash Player and ActiveX Plugin, but the procedure failed again again!

Adobe is added to Trusted with everything alloved.

---@ Darwin. I have to take it that way, because the installer did not just "inform" me about the alledged "new" version. It simply told me to get a newer version, and closed! ---

Not being able to install any version of Flash Player, no matter what browser I use, and with the registry cleaned from almost any presence of Adobe and Macromed, I have absolutely no idea what to do now. Do you have an idea, please?

Edit: I closed almost every program on my machine, before installation.

Hmm... that is worrisome (and no doubt highly annoying). I don't really know what to suggest beyond a format and reinstallation... Speaking from a load of negative experiences, I'd be REALLY careful using a registry cleaner as you did - you'll like regret that in the future, which leads me back to that format and fresh install of windows. I don't suppose you have a disk image that you could restore and try this again, by chance?

Logged

"Some people have a way with words, other people,... oh... have not way" - Steve Martin

YES, I would certainly like to repair XP, but NO, it's an OEM with no disc, and the backup disc is far too old to use already: I would loose some 300 programs... when I have had my CD Player repaired.....

NO, I have no Air... I have erased everything named Adobe or Macromedia.

And YES, registry cleaners are dangerous. Today I am convinced that it was a bad cleaning that started all the troubles many months ago!

By now it has been almost a full month in which I have had no Internet browser Adobe ActiveX flash player, and it is getting very frustrating to me.

I was not aware how often I watch flash movies one way or the other, but now I know it is every day. So many times I have been asked if I want to install Adobe Flash Player, and so many times I have clicked Yes, but to no avail: Each and every time I try to install, the Adobe installer will pop up at once and tell me that "this is not the newest version" and I need to go to Adobe to download a new version - and then the installer will abort setup with no further options than to give up installing.

Of course I have been using new versions only, both .47 and .64 Beta, from both this and that download link, - I even tried the newest of the old archive versions - but these stupid popup messages keeps saying my versions are too old.

I have again and again uninstalled the proper way, by using the newest official Adobe Flash Uninstaller, version 4.0.0.3, various copies.

I have tried to remove any traces of Adobe and Macromed from the registry keys- I even removed Adobe PDF Reader just for the sake of it.

I have uninstalled and updated this and that, including Java, but so far without any luck.

[Edit: I should tell that when I try to install from Adobe's homepage, the installation is never successful.]

Why don't you download the standalone installer from File Hippo? Be sure to select the stable version in the menu at the right side, as the most current one is a beta of the next major build. Or use Flash with another browser (last resort).

Or if you're brave enough, go hunt in the CLSID section of the registry (not recommended).

The picture in my previous post is showing a standalone version. And as I wrote earlier in the thread, the problem have so far been regardless of what browser I was using. Yes, the answer may be some CLSID, but where are the names to make certain you are handling the right one? No, you were right: "not recommended"; such action may call more for insight than for bravery.

... 5 minutes later: I found a Macromedia key in the registry that somehow escaped my previous cleansing, and the suffix was "Version". I deleted the key, and installed flash without any problems! Problem solved.